Census family status of person

Status: This standard was approved as a departmental standard on July 31, 2026.

Definition

Census family status refers to whether the person is a member of a census family and, if so, their relationship to other members of the census family as a married spouse or common-law partner, a parent in a one-parent family or a child.

Person refers to an individual and is the unit of analysis for most social statistics programs.

Derivation

'Census family status of person' is derived from the responses to questions about the relationships among the people who live in the household.

Conformity to relevant internationally recognized standards

This standard is compatible with the recommendations for censuses contained in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Conference of European Statisticians (UNECE-CES) "Recommendations for the 2030 Round of Population and Housing Censuses", 2025. The UNECE-CES recommendations include a classification (section 16.4.3.3) of family nucleus status and household living arrangement of person, which distinguishes persons in a family nucleus: member of a couple (with or without children), parent in a one-parent family, or child.

Classifications

Relation to previous version

  • Census family status of person July 31, 2026 to current

    In French, the concept has been renamed "statut dans la famille de recensement." The definition of the concept "census family status", as well as several category names and definitions in the Classification of census family status, have been modified. The variant Classification for census family status, variant with children has been removed.

  • Census family status of person May 26, 2021 to July 30, 2026

    The definition of the concept 'census family status' and some of the definitions in the classifications have been modified. The terminology used in the classifications has been modified in French from 'partenaire en union libre' to 'conjoint de fait'.

  • Census family status of person October 22, 2007 to May 25, 2021

    November 16, 2015 - Some category labels in the classifications have been updated.

    October 22, 2007 - This standard reflects the current definition of Census family. The current classification lists "spouse" and "common-law partner" separately. The new terminology, "Person not in a census family", has replaced "Non-census family person" in the previous standard.

  • Census family status July 15, 1998 to October 21, 2007

    This standard was replaced by the 'Census family status of person' as of October 22, 2007.

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